Summer Memories
by theladylillian
Summary: It's Claire's first year in the Forget-Me-Not valley and she's fit to be tied when someone knocks on her door at six in the morning. But instead of the person at the door being Thomas, Rick, or even Popuri, it's someone she has never met before. Rated K ... for now.
1. Chapter 1

It's Claire's first year in the Forget-Me-Not valley and she's fit to be tied when someone knocks on her door at six in the morning. But instead of the person at the door being Thomas, Rick, or even Popuri, it's someone she has never met before. Rated K+... for now.

A knock on the door. Claire sat up in her bed. What? Usually when someone knocked on her door at six in the morning, there was a festival tomorrow. Or…, she thought bitterly, it was Thomas waking her up to tell her he had found her ball. Well, she had checked her calendar yesterday; there were no festivals. Then again, what did she know? She had only been here one season, after all.

Claire listened again for a knock. Nothing. She was about to go back to sleep, thinking she had only dreamed it, when the knocking sounded again, this time louder and more urgent. Claire groaned. She stumbled out of bed and to the door wearing only old sweat pants and a ratty t-shirt.

"What, Thomas?!" Claire growled as she threw the door open.

Staring back at her was a handsome, but unfamiliar face. Claire blushed as she suddenly became self-conscious of her old pajamas and tangled blonde rat's nest.

"Uh, sorry..." She mumbled. She was expecting whoever this was to scold her for being rude- though in her defense, she did just wake up- and storm off, but he only chuckled.

"Don't worry about it," he smiled. "I get the same way in the morning." When Claire didn't respond, he kept talking "I'm Kai, by the way. I own the Snack Shack, you know, on the beach. Tomorrow's the first day of Summer, and to celebrate, I'm making it all-you-can-eat." When she still didn't respond, Kai just fiddled with his purple bandanna.

"So... Is that an invitation?" Claire finally asked.

"Well, yeah," he responded. "Hope to see you there! Oh, and try to wear something a little more... not that," he grinned, staring at Claire' pajamas.

She rolled her eyes. "So, how come I've never seen you around before?" she asked quizzically.

"Oh, I'm only here for the Summer. I've got a room over at the Inner Inn," Kai said motioning with his hand.

"That's nice," Claire said. "Ruby's a good cook."

"Yeah, she taught me a lot," he agreed. "Well, I'll see you around!"

Kai turned to walk off, and Claire started to close her door when he suddenly said "Wait!"

Claire looked up into his chocolate brown eyes. "Yeah?"

"I don't know your name."

"Oh! Claire! It's Claire!" she smiled.

"Claire..." Kai pondered. "Well, I'll be counting on you this Summer!" he said turning around.

"Yeah..." Claire called back. What was she supposed to say? What was that supposed to mean? Whatever, she thought, dismissing her confusion.

Claire went back inside to change into something less "what-she-was-wearing-now" as Kai put it. Today was going to be a busy day.

As Claire hacked away at her strawberry plants, she thought about the stranger at her door that morning. He said his name was Kai, and from the looks of him, he wasn't from the valley. His skin was incredibly dark compared to the marshmallow-white valley natives. Not that it was unattractive, Claire told herself. And what was with that bandanna? I mean, he must be out in the sun a lot, but why a bandanna? Why not a hat? He certainly was strange. Questions about this boy overwhelmed her mind as she worked. But there was no sense in wondering now. She had seeds to sow.

Annnd... chapter one is complete. I do intend to post more chapters, but don't expect many updates because, well, I don't really know where I'm going with this story. Anyway, please review! I know it was short, but if I added anything else, it would come off as rambling, and well, I do enough of that in real life XD


	2. Chapter 2

Claire groaned as her alarm clock wailed, signaling the start of a new day. She was sore in places she didn't know could be sore from yesterday's farm-fest. To be time-efficient, Claire decided to plant her seeds a day early, though looking back on it, getting her crops one lousy day earlier was not worth what she was going through now. Even though she slept an extra two hours, Claire still didn't feel 100%, but that was going to have to do.

Rubbing her blistered hands, she got up and changed into a pair of red overalls. Slipping on her orange shoes, Claire wondered if she had enough money to spare to buy a couple rice balls from the Supermarket, but then she remembered: no one would answer the phone. It was a holiday today. And not just any holiday, a food-related one.

Too tired to water her seeds, Claire decided to wait until after the festival to work. Instead, she decided to take a walk around the valley, something she hadn't done in a long time, not because she didn't like to, but because she didn't have the time.

Because of the festival today, the valley, usually bustling with activity, was now like a ghost town. The usually busy streets were now abandoned and it was strangely quiet. Out of habit, Claire took a left turn and headed to Vesta's farm. She had envied Vesta's farming skills ever since she moved here. How Vesta got her crops to grow so quickly, she would never know. But today she was here to kill time, not steal Vesta's farming secrets. Though it wasn't much different from her own fields, she found the atmosphere more relaxing.

Sitting under the windmills letting the artificial breeze tangle her hair, Claire sighed. It was nice to take a break from the ranch and not do anything, even if it was for only a couple hours. She must've fallen asleep, because the next thing she knew, Celia was standing over her shaking her shoulder. Claire's eyes snapped open as she stood up as quickly as she could.

Celia giggled. "You fell asleep, Claire," she grinned.

"I know," Claire said yawning.

"Well, it's time for the festival, and since you're here, I figured we could walk together," Celia offered.

"What about Vesta and Marvin?" Claire asked.

"Oh, my aunt already left for the beach. Something about wanting to give Kai some of her crops. Marvin went to help her carry everything," Celia explained.

"Oh," Claire replied. "Well, we should probably get going before all the food's gone." Claire laughed.

"It might already be, if Murrey's there!" Celia exclaimed.

Celia talked the whole way to the beach. It was mostly stuff Claire didn't care about like oh-what-wonderful-weather and can-you-believe-how-much-corn-seeds-cost-this-year. Though it was all relatable, she just wasn't interested. Instead, she thought about Kai. More questions about him filled her head. Where was he from? Why did he move around all the time? He was just such a peculiar person.

"Hell-ooo," Celia said snapping her fingers in front of Claire's face, "Didn't you hear me?"

"Uh, sorry," Claire apologized. "No, I didn't hear," she admitted.

"I asked you if you had met Kai yet!"

"Oh! Uh, yes I have. Yesterday morning, actually," Claire said.

"What did you think of him?" Celia asked, with a slight smirk on her face.

"What did I…" Claire started. What _did_ she think of him? She barely knew the guy! She'd spent more time wondering about him then speaking to him. "He seems nice," was all she could come up with.

"Nice?" Celia repeated. "Yeah, I guess he's pretty cool. He knows how to have fun, that's for sure."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Claire asked raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, you know. I'm around my aunt and Marvin all day, every day. They aren't exactly the most exciting people. It's just fun to talk about things other than crops and sickness." Celia responded as they arrived at the beach. Vesta waved to Celia, motioning her to come over. "Speak of the devil…" Celia muttered. "Oh, well. See ya, Claire!" she said walking off.

Since it was Claire's first year in the valley, she didn't have many friends. All she could do was stand under an umbrella by herself and wait for someone to approach her.

After about twenty minutes of eavesdropping on Muffy and Flora's conversation, Claire heard someone calling her name. Her head snapped up, searching the sea of heads for the one that called her. Suddenly, Kai appeared at her side. He tapped on her shoulder, surprising her.

"Oh!" she squeaked. Claire turned around to greet Kai. "Um… hello," she stuttered. "You scared me!"

Kai chuckled. "Yeah, sorry about that," he grinned. "So you made it."

"Yep. And I'm not wearing pajamas!" Claire beamed.

"Yeah, but your hair still looks the same," Kai noted.

Claire's hand instinctively went up to her hair, which she hadn't bothered to fix since her nap under the windmills. "You didn't say anything about fixing my hair," she retorted.

"Agree to disagree," Kai declared. "Well, all the food's ready. Help me spread the word?" he asked.

"Kay!" Claire agreed.

A small vegetable pizza sat in front of Claire. She wrinkled her nose. Though she loved pizza, she didn't like vegetable pizza.

"What's wrong?" asked Kai, who had already downed half of his own food.

"It's just…," Claire sighed. "It's got vegetables on it."

Kai stifled a laugh. "You don't like vegetables?"

"No…" Claire could sense where this conversation was going.

"You, Claire the rancher, don't like vegetables?" he laughed.

"Yeah. So?" Claire scowled.

"It's just funny!" he said as he continued to laugh.

Claire rolled her eyes.

"C'mon, Claire," Celia grinned poking Claire's arm. "Aunt Vesta'll get upset if you don't eat it. You know how much pride she takes in her crops."

"Phhpt. She's probably too scared to eat it

"Fine! Fine! If I eat it, will you guys shut up?" Claire said, gesturing wildly with her hands.

Celia shrugged and Kai only said "No promises."

Claire groaned. Why did she even hang out with these people? She slowly picked up her first slice and tenaciously bit into it. "See! I got this!" she said as she fought the urge not to spit it out.

"The whole thing," Kai said.

"W-what?"

Kai leaned closer to her. "Eat. The whole. Thing." he said fighting a grin.

"No way! That wasn't the deal!"

"Hey, Celia, bet you a whole summer of free shaved ice she can't do it!" Kai sang.

"You are so on!" Celia said. "C'mon, Claire! You gotta do it now! I'll share the winnings with you!"

"You guys are unbelievable," Claire sighed, but she picked up her pizza anyway. There was no way she was going to let Kai get the best of her. Besides, she thought, shaved ice was pretty good.

I bet you're thinking "why not just pick the vegetables off, you dumb blonde!" Well, if I did that, I wouldn't have any story. It is fan fiction after all. More ridiculous things have happened.

I know, I know. I said it would be a while before I updated. I lied. I actually got the idea for this chapter at like 2 in the morning. I didn't want to forget, so I typed it on the notes app on my phone. then I had to email it to myself, then make a word document and edit everything then... well it was a lot of work. I know this is short too, but I really like this chapter. but I want to know: is it too boring? is the whole story just not good? because I don't want to waste my time writing something no one likes. anyway please review and ive already started the next chapter! yay


	3. Chapter 3

"I still can't believe Celia convinced you to eat it!" Kai exclaimed as Claire gulped down glass after glass of water trying to get the taste out of her mouth.

"Hey, it's gonna be worth all that free shaved ice," Claire said in between sips.

The festival was over and everyone else had gone home. Claire was only there to help with clean-up. Why? Well, she lost the rock-paper-scissors match. Thomas's bad luck was rubbing off.

"I didn't actually think you would do it. Now I actually have to give Celia shaved ice," he whined.

Claire laughed. "And me!" she grinned.

"Since when!" he questioned.

"Since you told me to make my hair look presentable for the festival today," she said wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Touché," Kai said. "It's ok, though. I'll just give you vegetable-flavored ones."

"…they have those…" Claire asked wrinkling her nose.

"No," he admitted. "But let's be honest; they should. They would come in handy in situations like these."

"Whatever," Claire said throwing away the last of the cups and plates. "Well! This has been absolutely fantastic, but I really need to get back to work," she said wiping her hands on her overalls.

"Oh, yeah! Sure! Hey, Claire?"

"Ya?"

"If I promise not to give you anymore veggie pizza, you think you'll be coming back?" Kai asked.

"If I have the time," she shrugged. "Now, seriously, my pineapple seeds will die if I don't leave now."

"You have pineapple seeds?" Kai asked.

"Uh, yeah? It's a ranch, Kai." Claire explained.

"Oh." He blinked. "Your stupidity must be contagious. I've been hanging out with you way too long. Get outta here," he said playfully, whacking her with a hand towel.

"That's what I've been _trying _to do!" Claire called over her shoulder as she left the beach.

Claire set down her watering can and watched the setting sun. It was exceptionally beautiful with vibrant magenta streaks blending into the citrus sky. It was as if even nature was celebrating the arrival of Summer.

Claire pushed her thick blonde hair behind her ear. There was still plenty of daylight left, but nothing to do. The only place fun to go was the bar, but they were closed due to the holiday. She didn't feel like visiting anyone—she had her fill of being around people today. There was nothing better to do but sit down in front of the TV.

Claire plopped down with a bag of pretzels. Not the most healthy thing to eat, she knew, but hey, she had technically eaten vegetables earlier, hadn't she? Claire flipped through the channels, not finding anything good. Static, reruns, reality TV, static, reruns, reruns, cooking show, static. That was it. Nothing good. "Uhgg…" Claire groaned. She was soooo bored. She could read, but all she had were a bunch of instruction manuals. Stuff she already knew.

Switching the TV off, Claire tossed her pretzels aside and picked up the yellow legal pad and pencil that was sitting on the table next to her. Tucking her legs under her, she started doodling a picture of a dog, but, unfortunately, it looked more like a cow than a dog. Frustrated, she drew a dark angry "X" through the drawing. She threw her head back, blowing hair out of her face, when she heard a knock at the door. She swung her legs over her chair and hurried to answer the door. She had to admit it was strange having guests so late, especially after a festival.

"Hello!" Muffy chirped.

"Um, hi?"

"Hi, Claire! Sorry to visit you so late. I know you must be busy, but I'm here on business purpose only." Muffy said all this so fast Claire had a hard time keeping up. Actually, Muffy had such a habit of talking too fast, Claire tried to avoid conversation with her anytime she could. "I'm here to give you something," she said, inviting herself into Claire's home.

"Sure, come in," Claire muttered as Muffy kept chattering away.

"So here's the deal," Muffy started. "As you know, I work at the bar, but not when we're closed, of course. That would be stupid. Oh, my gosh, Claire! I love those curtains! Where did you get them? Oh, wait… Griffin said to stay on task. Anyway, I work at the bar. Griffin's been trying to get new drinks to put on the menus, but not just any drinks, drinks that will cause the bar to get lots of business, you know, stuff people like. So today I told him why don't we just sample out a couple bottles to see what will attract the most attention. Like a survey. And, of course, he said I was smart and that was a good idea. I wasn't expecting him to make me deliver them all, being a lady as refined as myself, but he did anyway. So now I'm here. And here's your sample," Muffy smiled as she held out a glass bottle.

Claire blinked, wrapping her head around everything Muffy had said. "Uh, May's Tailoring," she said reaching for the bottle. "And… thanks."

"Yep!" Muffy sang. "See you around Claire! Stop by the bar sometime!" she said heading out the door.

Even after Muffy had left, Claire just stood in the middle of her home in complete shock. Muffy was like a hurricane, chaotic, but she meant well. Claire lifted the bottle in her hands and read the label: Goddess Smile.

Along with vegetables, Claire hated alcohol. Not because she didn't like the taste, but because it brought back bad childhood memories. The only reason she went to the bar was to get a glass of water and maybe socialize. Claire sighed and placed the bottle on her table. She'd get rid of it later.


	4. Chapter 4

Claire stared at the wine as she sat back down. She hated wine. Not just its taste, but the color, the smell, the very essence of it. She supposed it had to do with her father.

Claire shuddered at the thought of him. Almost instinctively, her hand flew to cover the scar on her ribs.

She stifled a sob. He's gone now, she told herself. He's not in your life anymore. It's ok.

Claire sighed. It had been a long and rather unusual day. The best thing to do was go to sleep, even if it was only seven thirty.

Not bothering to change, Claire kicked off her shoes and curled up under her itchy blue sheets. They were old, and smelled of moth balls, but they reminded her of home. But Claire was trying her best to forget home. She kicked the sheets off. She moved to the valley to forget, not remember.

No sooner had Claire closed her eyes, another knock sounded at the door.

"My," she thought drowsily as she flipped on the light, "I'm certainly popular today."

Leaning against the doorway with her eyes closed, Claire answered the door. "You've arrived at the Flanagan residence. How can I assist you?" she said in a British accent.

When she opened her eyes she saw Kai standing in front of her with a very confused look on his face. She was wide awake now.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked.

"Coping," she returned.

"From?" He raised an eyebrow.

"People." What else could she say?

"Hm. I can see why. Ran into Muffy on the way here." he said jabbing a thumb in the direction of the town.

"Did she talk your ear off?" Claire laughed.

"No Claire, she just said a quick hello and- yes! Of course she did!" Kai rolled his eyes.

"Sah-ree! Goddess, Kai, there's no need to be rude." Claire huffed. "Why are you here, anyway? I can't seem to shake you."

"Goddess, Claire, there's no need to be rude," Kai mocked as Claire subtlety rolled her eyes. "I found something that might be yours," he said, "But if you don't want it back then-"

"Uh, no, I want it back! Just..." Claire looked over her shoulder at her messy house. "Oh, what the heck. Come on in!" She said motioning with her hand.

Leading Kai through her small home, Claire kicked a couple pairs of dirty overalls under her bed. Hoping he didn't see, she sat back in her chair, covering up her lame doodles. "Whatcha got for me?" She asked crossing her legs.

"Well," he said pulling something out of his pocket, "I didn't know if this was yours." He held out a red handkerchief for her to see.

Claire examined it. "It's not mine," she announced.

"What do you mean it's not yours?!" Kai exclaimed.

"It's Celia's!" Claire laughed.

"Well, how was I supposed to know?" he protested.

"Her name's on it!"

"No," he said slowly. "There's a "C" on it."

"Really?" Claire said getting up. "Let me see!"

Kai tossed the piece of cloth to her.

Examining the handkerchief, Claire laughed. "I owe you an apology!"

"How 'bout you give up your shaved ice instead?" Kai joked.

"Not a chance." Claire snorted.

Kai walked over to her table, picked up the wine bottle and said, "Maybe I could take this fine bottle of Goddess Smile off your hands?"

Claire threw her hands in the air. "Sure, take it, if it'll make you happy, or at the very least shut you up. I was just gonna get rid of it later anyway,"

Kai popped the bottle open and took a swig. "Why?"

"Bad memories. Hey! Don't drink that here!" Claire exclaimed.

"Why not?" Kai asked innocently as he wiped his mouth with the back of his wrist.

"Because," Claire started, "I don't want you getting too wasted to walk back to the inn." She felt bad lying, but she wasn't comfortable enough with this boy to tell him her story. Besides: it was a pretty good excuse.

"So what you're saying is... You'd let me sleep here if I got sloppy drunk?" Kai teased.

"I'm saying I'd stick you in the stable," Claire said folding her arms.

He laughed. "Got it. Claire, you show no mercy."

She shrugged. "It's a gift."

Kai only stared at her. She tried to ignore it, but Claire grew uncomfortable under his gaze.

"What?" she finally asked.

"Oh, nothing," he said nonchalantly. "It's just…," he grinned. "Your hair's still messy."

"That's because you keep catching me right after I sleep!" Claire argued. "It's just bad timing on your part," she said folding her arms.

"Sure, Claire."

She threw her hands in the air. "You. Are. IMPOSSIBLE!"

"It's a gift."

"Funny. Maybe you should sell the shack and try standup comedy."

"Hm, not a bad idea," Kai pondered. "Now I've got a backup plan if people suddenly stop eating."

In response, Claire shook her head.

Kai shot her a sideways glance. "Hey, Claire? How do you prevent a Summer cold? You catch it in the Winter!"

Claire cleared her throat "Please stop."

Kai only bowed. "I've got a million of 'em. I'll be here all night." He tucked the bottle of wine under his arm. "Nah, I'd love to stay and tell you all my jokes, but I can't. I gotta give that thing back to Celia." He walked over to Claire.

"Uh, do you need something?"

"The 'chief."

"Oh. Sorry," Claire apologized. She hadn't realized she was still holding it. She handed to him.

"Thanks." He headed for the door "Sorry to bother you so late at night."

"It's not a big deal," Claire shrugged. "Just go give Celia her 'thing,'" she said making air quotes with her fingers.

"Ok. See ya, Claire."

"Bye."

"Hey Claire…"

"What?"

Kai gave her a sly grin. "Why do you call segulls seagulls?"

Claire groaned. "Get out, Kai!" In her attempt to push him out, Claire tripped over the dirty overalls she thought were under her bed.

Kai laughed. "That," he said, "was funnier than any joke."

Claire closed the door. She had final gotten Kai to leave. To be honest, she didn't really want him to go. It was fun to joke around with someone. Pretty much everyone else in the valley was a stuck up prude.

But it didn't matter. He probably thought she was an idiot. Or… maybe not. After all, he was the one who kept finding excuses to see her.

Well, whatever the case, she had basically just embarrassed herself. Great. Yet another reason to be the joke of the valley. It was bad enough everyone doubted her ability to run the ranch, especially since she was from the city. Now the only person Claire had a chance of making a good impression on was probably laughing at her right now.

Oh, well.

At least he had taken the Goddess Smile.

I think this chapter got out of hand. I don't really like it, but I had fun writing it! And that's what matters... Right?


End file.
